Any Updates On Miami Beach 1/2 Marathon: Goucher, Flanagan

Even considering that she ran really tired on purpose (as your site reported)? Maybe too exhausted before the start?

wejo wrote:

I guess I'm out of the loop. When did Vaughn join Schumacher's group? He won US XC last year under Jay Johnson. Tim Nelson must have had some problems.

Women:

1 Shalane Flanagan Portland OR 01:09:58

2 Kara Goucher Portland OR 01:12:59

3 Lisa Uhl Portland OR 01:15:24

This is not encouraging for Goucher at all. Was it really hot? I had been so impressed with 2011 for her coming back from childbirth although I know she was disappointed with her year but this is one of her worst performances. Unless she was totally obligated to make an appearance and tun this "race" and just took it really easy. She ran 1:09:03 1 month before Boston this year:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/sports/21running.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

I disagree with your comment about Goucher because she stated she was going tired and the point was to feel what the 2nd half of a marathon feels. She may have well run 120 miles this week - so to run Marathon Pace is solid enough - that was the goal.

Vaughn joined months ago.

Wow, who could have seen those results coming....except for the coach who assigned them their paces and CGI who paid for their appearance fees in place of prize money to ensure the Africans wouldn't show up and start a race.

Word on the street this morning was Kara's coach gave her strict instructions to NOT run faster than 73 minutes. She ran a second faster. Oops!

They all were told to run a specific time, we talked to kara after the race.

It was really windy down in south beach and it got hot towards the end, although I bet it was hot for them from the start.

wejo wrote:

This is not encouraging for Goucher at all. Was it really hot? I had been so impressed with 2011 for her coming back from childbirth although I know she was disappointed with her year but this is one of her worst performances. Unless she was totally obligated to make an appearance and tun this "race" and just took it really easy. She ran 1:09:03 1 month before Boston this year:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/sports/21running.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Wejo are you really not intelligent enough to realize this was a "workout" for the group or are you just trolling?

Wasn't there a story that Jerry's group was in the midst of their highest mileage week...then fly into Miami late, like landing at 11:30 p.m., the night before the race, up early and then run a hard tempo. All meant to simulate being tired during the second half of the marathon and having to push through.

Yeah, Vaughn joined Jerry's group in June, I believe.

Not bad if you like men in drag.

Gouger wrote:

Word on the street this morning was Kara's coach gave her strict instructions to NOT run faster than 73 minutes. She ran a second faster. Oops!

THIS.

This is the recent trend I see. Not only are athletes training thru the HM, but they're also running it roughly at MP (compare Ryan Hall NYC Half 2011). If they can do this and still get payed for it, why not?

There is an article up on competitor.com

) where it says that Goucher's goal for the race was 73 minutes so the 72:59 actually left her very upbeat afterwards.

Is there still enough time for her? Or is this false confidence (an example of an athlete wanting to believe things will be ok?)? We'll find out in 5 weeks.

douglas burke wrote:

where were the africans? if runners like k. goucher and flanagan were there there had to be money, and it is unheard of in money road races for no africans to show up, even if they werent invited they would buy their own (or their friends would pool there money together to get them there) plane ticket, hotel and entry fee (example duncan kibet in san jose half marathon) flanagan would have won anyways unless the really top level woman showed up, but the other woman and the mens race they would have dominated, i mean 1:05 for the men to win 1:07 for 3rd, and 1:12 for 2nd and 1:15 for 3rd, how many african runners are kicking themselves for not going and getting the easy money in what would be a tempo run effort.

Wrong. Kara, Shalane et al did not do it for the money.

They specifically chose Miami to simulate conditions that most closely resemble HOuston. Houston can be cold in January but it can also get up in the 80s. They wanted to see how they handled the heat/humidity. They might mention it because it is an element to be dealt with.

I ran the race on a whim when I found out Kara and the girls were coming to Miami. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for someone based down here.

I can tell you this is NOT your typical 13.1 miler. The bridges are insane. The wind out there was stupid hard. I'm normally a 1:14 guy and couldn't stay with Kara past 5K.

Take off about 2-3 minutes from everyone's time and you have a more realistic idea of fitness. Shalane running a 69 in these conditions is beastly.

Don't let these results fool you. Those girls are going to rock the Trials. BTW, I don't think I'll ever be the same again being that close to greatness.

i really enjoy the fact that this website linked to an article where k. goucher explicitly stated the goal in miami was not to run a fast time but to run tired and simulate the 2nd half a marathon. by all accounts it appears that is exactly what happened, yet the brojos are still full of theories. do you two even read your own site?

let's see, schumacher has probably been telling goucher to trust his plan. he's been saying that despite running a lot miles this week and flying in late she should still run around 73 min. she goes and runs 72:59. this gives her confidence that her new coach is in touch with her workouts and current condition. in 5 weeks when schumacher tells her she can make the olympic team, she'll go out and do that - remembering what happened in miami.

mr Toad RIP wrote:

I ran the race on a whim when I found out Kara and the girls were coming to Miami. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for someone based down here.

I can tell you this is NOT your typical 13.1 miler. The bridges are insane. The wind out there was stupid hard. I'm normally a 1:14 guy and couldn't stay with Kara past 5K.

Take off about 2-3 minutes from everyone's time and you have a more realistic idea of fitness. Shalane running a 69 in these conditions is beastly.

Don't let these results fool you. Those girls are going to rock the Trials. BTW, I don't think I'll ever be the same again being that close to greatness.

i lived in miami for 6 years and it is flat as a pancake and even the bridges are not that high.

maybe he meant the amount of bridges and speed of wind at those bridges was insane? i can see miami having a few bridges scattered about.

doug, you are consistently out of your freakin mind dude. number one, crazy windy today. absolutely howling this morning. second, you run 4:45-4:55 effort over those bridges (the bridges which "only" climb 100+ ft) and then tell us all how "small" they are. finally, hammer away in the heat (it was at least 70 at the start, we were all dripping after two miles) and then tell us how sissy everyone was who "underperformed."

this is one more example of why registration should be mandatory to post here.

cheers, dude-

ps. yes shalane did run a little hard but i don't think anyone has any idea how impressive her run was. hilly, windy, hot/humid course....and to break 70...wow! can't see her being beat in Houston.

somerandomdude wrote:

doug, you are consistently out of your freakin mind dude. number one, crazy windy today. absolutely howling this morning. second, you run 4:45-4:55 effort over those bridges (the bridges which "only" climb 100+ ft) and then tell us all how "small" they are. finally, hammer away in the heat (it was at least 70 at the start, we were all dripping after two miles) and then tell us how sissy everyone was who "underperformed."

this is one more example of why registration should be mandatory to post here.

cheers, dude-

ps. yes shalane did run a little hard but i don't think anyone has any idea how impressive her run was. hilly, windy, hot/humid course....and to break 70...wow! can't see her being beat in Houston.

Well said....

They were not out for a marathon training run, even if that's what thier coach and Kara is saying. Look at their expressions after finishing, their body language...etc...

Here's a good picture of the bridges we're talking about:

somerandomdude wrote:

(the bridges which "only" climb 100+ ft) and then tell us all how "small" they are.

I don't know about the heat or wind, but if that course profile is correct, you might want to recalibrate your definition of "climb".

Fishing Instructor wrote:

I don't know about the heat or wind, but if that course profile is correct, you might want to recalibrate your definition of "climb".

Something is wrong with the profile. It says that max elevation is 75 feet, but the graph never gets near to 50 feet.